GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) by OpenAI or Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) scores 15.1 points higher (42.1 vs 27.0) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($2501 vs $1528; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 42.1 | 27.0 | −35.9% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 35.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,500.72 | $1,528.20 | −38.9% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 38.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 104.98s | 65.20s | −37.9% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 37.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $0.95 / $4.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Max): 35.9% less intelligence, 38.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 37.9% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
- Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra/kimi-k2-6 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra/kimi-k2-6?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill